Mind what you say on your mobile

MILLIONS of cellphone users could be vulnerable to eavesdropping despite the circuits in digital phones that encrypt their messages. A pair of Israeli mathematicians said last week that they have found a way for anyone with a radio scanner and a powerful PC to listen in on encrypted phone conversations.

Digital cellphones operating to the GSM standard are used by 225 million people worldwide. To prevent people armed with radio scanners from eavesdropping on their calls, the phones encrypt conversations as they are transmitted. Until now, no one had figured out a way to break the code without special equipment and huge amounts of computer time. The new decryption algorithm, devised by mathematicians Alex Biryukov and Adi Shamir, drastically cuts the time required, and can be run using a top-end desktop computer with 128 megabytes of RAM and 150 gigabytes of disc space. Shamir is well known as one of ...

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